EFFECT OF PRENATAL COCAINE ON THE ACQUISITION OF COCAINE-INDUCED TASTE-AVERSIONS

Pregnant Long-Evans rats were injected SC twice daily with 20 mg/kg cocaine from gestational days (GD) 7-19. Vehicle controls were administered distilled water on these days. Pair-fed controls were similarly treated but allowed the same amount of food as consumed by the cocaine-exposed mothers. On postnatal day 1 (PND 1), pups of the mothers exposed to cocaine were surrogate-fostered. On PND 41, all subjects were grouped according to their history (cocaine, vehicle, and pair-fed) and were tested for their behavioral sensitivity to the aversive effects of cocaine by assessing their ability to acquire a cocaine-induced taste aversion. Rats from all three conditions were given saccharin to drink and then injected SC with either 0, 18, 32, or 50 mg/kg cocaine. Prenatal exposure to cocaine had no effect on the acquisition of aversions. Specifically, the prenatally exposed animals acquired the taste aversion in a dose dependent manner similar to that of the controls. These data indicate that changes in sensitivity to cocaine are not necessary consequences of prenatal cocaine exposure.